Year One
From the minute Hermione met Ron and Harry on the train, she knew she didn't like either of them. But she never thought it would be this bad.
Harry Potter was famous. He was in books. Hermione thought that would at mean he was a bearable person at very least. But she was wrong. He knew less about magic than she did, and yet everyone in the wizarding world knew him. Maybe he had saved all of their kind when he was a baby, but he hadn't maintained this heroic trait growing up- or at least he hadn't shown it yet. He was always goofing off and buying up all the candy there was. He pretended like Hermione wasn't even there, even when she was trying to study, and she was yelling at him for being too loud.
But Ron Weasley was even worse. His fire red hair was always unruly, and his tie was always crooked. On the rare occasion Harry was studying, Ron would always turn it into a game of wizard chess or tag or something. He was a pro at bouncing off the walls when he was hyper- which was most of the time. And at least Harry left Hermione alone. Whenever she told the two to "Please be quiet for once," or anything of the sort, Ron would always reply with a snarky comment. Hermione hated snarky comments. She got them a lot at her muggle school, too. People were always calling her a know-it-all and such. It made her angrier then when they tugged on her frizzy hair or pushed her down. She thought things would be different here at Hogwarts- but so far, no such luck.
About two weeks into term, Hermione was walking behind Harry, Ron, and another first year Gryffindor named Seamus Finnigan. She was keeping a close distance, afraid of being made fun of once again. She couldn't help eavesdropping a little, though. What did pre-pubescent teen boys even talk about when they were alone? She soon realized that not unlike girls, they, too, had an occasional gossip. They were talking about some girl… and god, she sure sounded annoying. Wait. Suddenly, Hermione knew. The annoying, nightmarish girl they were talking about was her. Stunned, hurt, and absolutely through with everything, Hermione ran past the boys, red-faced and tears streaming down her cheeks. She was sure that she ran into one of them on the way, but she didn't care. Serves them right, she thought. She ran straight through the crowd of people parading to who-knows-where, and to the closest, most deserted bathroom she could find. She locked herself in the stall and carefully climbed up the gross toilet to sit atop the railing on the wall. Why couldn't people just be nice to her for once? Determined to come up with an answer, she sat and cried until she lost track of the time.
Ron was in awe about how much had changed since he started at Hogwarts. He was so glad that he had found a best friend so quickly- one that was hard for his annoying older brothers- Fred and George- to poke fun at. I mean, Harry Potter was famous and so cool. And he actually wanted to be friends with him! And there was Hermione, too. He hadn't liked her at all in the beginning. But… thing's change, he guessed. Well, he still thought she was pretty aggravating sometimes, but he had overreacted… especially when he said… that thing about her to Harry and Seamus. Maybe she overreacted a little though. Honestly, Ron wasn't quite sure what to make of the ordeal. All he really knew was that he and Harry saved her life, and she saved them from expulsion. So that made them friends, right?
"Ron, honestly. Did you even try to comb your hair this morning?" Hermione said sternly to Ron one rainy November day at breakfast. "You're one to talk!" Ron shot back, looking at Hermione's frizzy, unruly curls and silently hoping he didn't offend her too much. "I can't help that my hair reacts to humidity!" She replied agrily, crossing one arm over her body and taking a bite of her cereal. "My god Hermione, your hair is about as high as your test grades." Ron said with false anger. Hermione almost choked on her cereal with laughter, and Ron felt an odd feeling of pleasure rush through him. "I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult," She smiled, pushing back her cereal and plopping "Hogwarts: A History" down on the table, "but thanks?"
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Ron couldn't believe that it was almost summertime already. He didn't even really want it to be summer, even. Unless Harry and Hermione took the place of his siblings, that is. And all this business with Nicholas Flammel and the Sorcerer's Stone kind of made him a hero, as frightening as it was. And now, he was already packing his hand-me-down robes and finals had been passed back. He was going to have to spend all summer finding The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Two secondhand, as Fred had lost the only copy the family had while trying to make a bird out of it as a joke on one of the professors.
"Should we go down to the common room to say goodbye?" Ron asked Harry.
"What? Say goodbye to who?"
"Hermione, of course. We might not get the chance to say it tomorrow, because we leave so early and might not see her on the train."
"Oh, sure. I hadn't thought of that." And so they went. Sure enough, Hermione was in her usual chair, looking as though she was expecting the two of them. "We just thought we would come say goodbye. You know, in case we don't see you tomorrow." Harry said. "Aw, I'll miss you guys so much! I'm so glad I met you two." She said, closing her book shut and hugging Harry tightly. Ron stood, fists clenched, next to Harry. It was my idea to say goodbye to her. But Hermione hugged Ron, too. Stiffly, Ron hugged her back, patting her hair down and biting his lip. Her hair smells good…. Shut up, Weasley. Hermione walked back, teary-eyed. "I'm going to hate spending the summer with my old muggle 'friends.' But I'll see you guys next term. Be sure to write, because I haven't an owl to send letters with myself- I'll have to use yours. And for lord's sake Ronald, please don't forget everything this summer." She laughed, sniffling. "I won't" Ron lied, smiling at Hermione. He really didn't like seeing her cry. More than he didn't like Brussels sprouts. She gave them a final wave and they headed upstairs, ready for their very last night at Hogwarts until September.
Thank you so much for reading(: this is my first fanfiction, and I'm very excited! Please leave comments, questions, and suggestions. Chapter Two/Year two will be up as soon as possible!